It was quick because Bekki, having met him more than once, already knew he was for us. She'd been eyeing candidates for adoption online and occasionally visiting them, and she had gone to meet Rascal the day before Thanksgiving. By then nearly all my belongings had migrated to our house in Bloomington, but I was still living out my last few weeks in Washington Heights. Until the end of January we knew we'd be at home together for one week, in Germany together for three, and apart for another three while I was away for a conference and for work. Sweet as my trusted source assured me Rascal was, we knew we couldn't take him. Not quite yet.

When someone else did, we figured that was that. But here he was again. So it came to pass that we were able to go together to see Baloo (as he was now called) and to learn as much of his story as the shelter could tell us. He had been brought in by a family who purchased him on Craigslist but didn't have time; adopted by a young couple who returned him after three weeks due to a family member's allergies; adopted by another young couple who returned him after three days due to his nonstop vomiting; and here we were, another young couple. We liked him and we thought we'd like to adopt him, but we didn't want to continue the pattern, so we went home and slept on it. The following day we knew not only that his troubles endeared him to us more, but also that we were ready for whatever they might be, whatever he might need us to do.

His first days with us were quiet and loving, when they weren't vomitorious. Some combination of politeness and hunger impelled him to try to clean up his own messes, which we quickly put a stop to. Dozens of carpet-bombings and a couple medical inspections later, we're slowly getting the hang of managing his stomach, he's getting more comfortable with us and otherwise, and we're starting to discover hints of a boisterous personality. Bekki got home from driving me to the airport to find that the dog had amused himself in our several hours' absence by reorganizing the house a bit. And that's how we realized that was the longest we've left him home alone. Is this 10-year-old fellow's apparent gentility with his feline and human housemates a façade? I'm away from the home office till mid-March, so we're about to find out.

His new name was Bekki's idea: he responded well to “Rascal”, he's husky-derived, and one of his new owners is a programmer. Haskell. It's even more fitting because we lazily evaluated his name just in time to tell the vet. Now I have two Haskells to get to know. For the moment, I'm focusing on the 65-pound wannabe lapdog who wishes I'd walk faster, then cuddle more.